United in Envy
by Zaph-Remulus
Summary: Slight AU. Set immediately after Midnight Over Sanctaphrax. Twig has two secret admirers, but he's oblivious to their feelings. Can either of them outwit the other and steal the captain's heart at last? Provisionally rated T  PG-13 .
1. The Academic's Problematic Care

"I can see it in your thoughts. You know it isn't safe. You know you will probably die. Why not wait for the captain"? Woodfish did all he could to try and convince her, but the stone pilot ignored his pleas. She was determined to follow him, regardless of the risk it would put on her own life. How could she have been so foolish as to let that young boy...Cowlquape, wasn't it? How could she have let him go after Twig, alone, while she was forced to wait behind? Carefully re-positioning the lufwood trunk on her back, she bent her legs at the knees and prepared to take off. Woodfish could feel her determination and without a word understood she would not take no for an answer. Goom had also done his best to try and convince her to stay, but without knowing her language he had quickly learned that Woodfish was better suited to the job.

Yet even knowing her determination, the waterwaif still hesitated. By now, Woodfish had resorted to speaking to her out loud in the hope it would get his point across more clearly.

"Please, miss Maugin...you must understand the risk you put yourself at by sky-firing yourself. At least wait a while, I'm sure-"

"Light it, please, Woodfish. I want...I _need_ to know that Twig – I mean, the captain, is alright." Maugin retorted, her voice lowered to a desperate whisper. The waterwaif hesitated for a moment longer before finally surrendering; it truly must have meant a lot for the usually silent stone pilot to have finally spoken up. With an exhausted sigh, he finally lit the log. Upon smelling the flames Goom suddenly leapt towards her again, trying to prevent yet another of his crew-mates from leaving him behind. Yet it was too late, and Goom crashed to the ground as Maugin silently flew into the air. She was unable to set the trajectory as carefully and safely as she had for Twig and Cowlquape, but she had faith that she would at least not find herself over the Edge. Goom groaned sadly as he looked at the stone pilot fading into the distance, Woodfish laying a comforting palm across the huge banderbear's head.

As she flew through the sky, Maugin focused her thoughts on Twig, desperately trying to keep her confidence in the air and hoping he had made it to Sanctaphrax successfully, and that she would do the same. With the tension and worry that filled her, the journey seemed to take forever. Flocks of snowbirds passed by in the distance, and as the wood burning brighter and hotter she swore she could have even felt it through her stone pilot outfit. It was designed to withstand the great heat of a flight rock with no problem, yet it was hardly fire-proof. It reminded her of the time she had purposefully set it alight, during a flight with the late captain Cloudwolf – Sky rest his soul – in order to try and prevent the ship from going turvy. She was glad to have done it however, for some years later it led her to meet the son he had – Twig Verginix. A small smile played across her lips, the thoughts diverting her attention from the heat that slowly grew unbearable. She strained her eyes to look into the distance once more, considering releasing herself from the log as it grew hotter. Finally the floating city came into view, and her dexterous fingers prepared to release her from the log as soon as her opportunity arose.

Upon finally reaching close enough to see the specks of people on the ground ahead of her however, it soon became obvious that Twig and the Cowlquape boy had in fact landed in Undertown instead, and seemed to be fighting someone near the anchor chain. She drew closer still as finally the anchor chain was severed by the young blond boy, the figure that had once been fighting with them clinging to the end of it – slowly but surely being pulled away into the air with Sanctaphrax itself. Maugin was entranced by the action taking place, and were it not for the sudden burning that made her release her grip she may not have parted from the log at all. Her unexpected drop made it difficult to decide on a safe landing place, so she instead aimed towards the now freely hanging anchor chain. Her hands burned from friction, even through her gloves, as she clung onto the chain for her life and slid down it rapidly. She could feel herself slowing as she descended, but even so did not expect the landing to be particularly pleasant. It came as a surprise however when she hit something solid, even before releasing the anchor chain. The solid object gave a yelp and fell beneath her, Maugin herself having slowed enough to avoid a painful landing and rolling on the floor as she landed beside the heaving old man she had knocked to the ground. Feeling consciousness drain from her, she realised it had in fact been the Most High Academe himself she knocked to the floor, though any punishment she might receive for this did not concern her. No – she was happy enough just to be able to hear Twig's voice calling to her as her eyes fell closed.

Maugin awoke some time later, though she had no idea of how long had passed. Looking around slowly she realised she was in a small room and lying in a soft bed – obviously not having been kept in a low-class tavern whilst recovering. She tried to move yet her body still ached, and only now did she notice that parts of her burned as if the log was still strapped to her back. She exhaled sharply with pain upon trying to sit back, quickly succumbing to it and laying down again. For the time being she would have to simply lie here, and wait for someone to visit. Fortunately, it was only a few minutes later that the door to the room creaked open. Maugin hoped it would be her captain, yet effectively hid her disappointment when the blond academic crept into the room.

"H-hello? ...are you awake? I've brought you some hyleberry salve, for your burns, miss Stone Pilot..." He sounded uncertain and afraid, as if he expected her to act like a trog turned termagent. Maugin gave a pained moan as she tried to respond, the pain apparently worse after she had dropped back onto the bed and put even more pressure against her burns.

"...yes..." Maugin eventually managed to say, her voice strained with agony. Cowlquape's confidence seemed to grow as he hurried over to her side, careful not to drop any of the hyleberry salve he was carrying.

"Oh, no, no, you shouldn't push yourself! We were so surprised when you landed...Twig and the others are busy with negotiations right now. You actually saved the life of the Most High Academe! You did very well...oh, um, sorry, I must be rambling. Here," he sat down on a small stool beside her bed and prepared the salve, looking at her uncertainly. He was by no means an expert at applying medicines like this, but with all his academic studies he was the most qualified of the crew to do it. This did not change the fact he was the least experienced at interacting with women though.

The stone pilot seemed to ignore him for a moment, before managing to roll onto her back. As she did so the blanket that was once cast over her fell to the floor, leaving her in clothes much more revealing than Cowlquape expected compared to her full stone pilot outfit. She had been dressed, assumingly by one of the gabtrolls that originally started tending to her a week ago, in a simple sleeveless white dress that extended to the back of her knees. Unlike normal clothes however the simple dress was held together at the back by small pins at regular intervals, ensuring the bedclothes would not stick too closely to her aching burns. Cowlquape looked at her dumbstruck for a moment, uncertain what to do.

"...is, it okay, if I apply the salve?" he asked, not wanting to force her into it. He had never really heard the stone pilot speak much, even though she seemed to be the centre of Twig's attention when they reached Riverrise. She merely gave a small groan of effort, followed by a croaking voice that sounded like 'yes'. Cowlquape swallowed hard and mustered what courage he could, his hand shaking a little as he carefully unpinned the back of her bedclothes. As he did so he winced, as if it physically pained him or he expected her to strike out at him. Yet nothing happened. So he continued, doing his best to distract himself with other thoughts.

"Come on Cowlquape, you can do it. Just pretend it's Twig..." he thought to himself, and soon enough he was unpinning the small, thin dress even more quickly. Little did he know, Maugin's own thoughts were trailing off in a similar direction. Although it pained her, having to rely on someone else to take care of her, she imagined it was Twig undoing the dress and preparing to apply the salve to her burns. So lost in these thoughts, Cowlquape didn't realise as he continued beyond her back. When he realised what he was doing a small, smooth-skinned rear sat exposed to him. The blond academic flushed furiously and panicked briefly, waiting for some form of punishment from the stone pilot. Yet none came. Still uncomfortable with the situation, Cowlquape pushed on and dipped a hand into the hyleberry salve. Gently, he began to massage it into the burns. At first Maugin's body lurched violently at the touch, but Cowlquape did his best not to pull away too suddenly. As he continued the stone pilot's violent reactions soon became minor twitches, and eventually relieved sighs as the salve began to take effect on her burns.

It seemed to take forever, but Cowlquape felt at ease once more when he finally screwed the lid back onto the pot of hyleberry salve.

"You should lie on your front like this for a while so you don't put pressure on the burns." Cowlquape advised her, setting the pot down on the floor nearby the bed. Now feeling a little less afraid of her reactions, he took to pinning her bedclothes back up much more easily.

"...thank you." The stone pilot finally managed to speak out, the medicine having eased her pain enough that she could speak again.

"What?" He was stunned for a moment, having heard her speak properly after the time he'd spent applying her medicine in almost silence. "Oh! Yes, well, you really helped me and Twig...so, it's the least I could do for you." They did their best to be friendly towards one another, although neither could help suspecting the other's intentions regarding Twig.

"Where is Twig...I mean, the Captain? And where am I?" Maugin turned her head slightly, trying to look at the boy while she spoke to him.

"Oh, Twig's been talking to the Professor of Darkness a lot lately. There's been a lot to sort out with new Sanctaphrax taking to the sky. Because you saved him, the professor's been letting you stay in the most expensive tavern to rest under his orders – as a thank you." Cowlquape went on to explain New Sanctaphrax, now looming high above them and just as wonderful as its predecessor. Maugin did her best to listen with some enthusiasm to his stories, and succeeded in keeping up with his adoring ramblings about the new city for a full ten minutes straight.

"That's...nice. You're Cowlquape, right? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Oh, about a week, I think. There were some gabtrolls taking care of you before, but they had to move on to other jobs so I've been visiting you in Twig's place while he's been busy with the professor. They said you'd be fine, and you just needed a lot of rest to recover."

"I see," she fell silent in thought for a moment, silently cursing her luck. He was already making such a fantastic impression on Twig...her only hope, really, was that regardless of his being raised in the Deepwoods that Twig would still hold onto more common values of certain relationships only being shared between a man and a woman. Having lived her life either as a young 'un in the Trog caverns or on a skyship, she had never held onto such shallow beliefs about relationships, but could not help hope that Twig might. She realised Cowlquape was now staring at her with concern, probably because she had suddenly become so quiet again. It was easy enough to dislike him when she was competing for Twig, but if he was going to insist on being nice to her despite their competition then it would make things all the more difficult. "I'm sorry, I think I need to rest some more." She said finally, turning her head away from him once again. It was going to make it incredibly difficult to fight for Twig if she started to care about the Cowlquape boy and worry about hurting his feelings.

"Oh, yes, of course." The academic pushed his chair back and got to his feet, picking up the pot of hyleberry salve as he did so. "I'll try and get the other crew to visit at some point soon, and I'll come and apply some more salve for you tomorrow, Miss Stone Pilot." With that he turned and left the room. She went to tell him it was okay to simply call her Maugin, but she bit her tongue. It was a right she had reserved for only Twig, his father Quint, and his mother Miss Maris. She already had grown a little concerned about hurting the boy by chasing after Twig – the last thing she needed was to make things even more difficult. With a heavy sigh she settled again in the room, leaving the blanket in a heap on the floor as the salve worked its magic on her burns and she once again lost herself in thoughts. What was Twig doing right now, she wondered, and was he thinking of her as well?


	2. Setting Sail

Maugin spent another week or so recovering in the small tavern room with Cowlquape visiting regularly to apply the medicine to her burns. By this time she was recovered enough to sit up most of the time, though this only made applying the hyleberry salve all the more awkward. She kept her arms crossed over her chest and leant forwards as the pins on the back of her thin dress were undone, holding the front of it over her chest still whilst he applied the medicine.

"This should be the last time you need the medicine. If you feel well enough to start working again, Twig wants to set sail as soon as possible." Cowlquape had slowly grown a little less afraid of the trog during the time he spent taking care of her, and had found it easier each time to strike up a conversation. Despite her better judgement, Maugin had surrendered and started speaking with him as well – it was going to make winning Twig from him more difficult now that she started to actually feel bad for the academic. He had, from what she could gather, been rather badly bullied during his time in Sanctaphrax and Twig had all but saved him by taking him aboard his skyship. The boy seemed extremely grateful, and it had crossed Maugin's mind that perhaps he truly did see Twig as nothing more than a close friend.

This hope quickly vanished though as she listened to him more over the course of the week, and found he seemed to have an obsession with Twig that even measured up to her own.

"Where are we sailing?" She said finally, realising now that she had been silent for a long time. Cowlquape seemed to lose his voice for a moment as well, before suddenly fumbling with his words.

"Oh, oh yes! Sorry, I forgot, you don't know yet. We're going to look for Riverrise again, to find Woodfish and Goom. Twig said he won't leave any of his crew behind." The academic added his last sentence with as much pride as a parent would have for their child. The stone pilot smiled.

"...yeah. That sounds like him." She muttered quietly, feeling Cowlquape pull away and screw the lid onto the pot of hyleberry salve. He quickly pinned her thin robe again from behind and Maugin sat upright once more. "Well, I'm ready to leave whenever the captain is – I'll just need my stone pilot uniform, or at least a new one after the damage done to the old one." Apparently they had already thought of this, as the academic produced a new outfit, neatly folded, from beneath her bed.

"Don't worry, miss stone pilot, it's already been dealt with. I'll leave you to get ready, I'll wait outside the door for you." Cowlquape tucked the medicinal pot under his right arm and went to leave, but as he placed his hand against the door Maugin called after him.

"You..." she seemed to falter, though he stopped and looked over to her, hoping she would finish what she was saying.

"...is something wrong, miss stone pilot?" He asked her, stepping slightly away from the door again. She shook her head, her thick red her swaying over her shoulders as she did so.

"No...It's just; you can call me Maugin, if you wish. You have..." she breathed in deeply, trying to keep up the confidence with letting her true self show to someone, "...you have helped me a lot, Cowlquape. Thank you." His reaction to her offering was a little more than she expected, and he seemed greatly excited at the idea of making another real friend other than Twig. He didn't seem to have made particularly good friends with the other members of the crew, considering he rarely mentioned them when he spoke to her. Cowlquape's grateful smile seemed large enough to swallow the entire edgewater river at this point.

"I...thank you, Maugin. I was happy to help. You know you can call me Cowlquape too, if you want. I'll wait for you outside." With that he left the room, noticeably with much more of a spring in his step at this point. She could not help but smile a little, glad she could repay his kindness with at least a little of her own.

It took her only moments to slide back into the familiar thick stone pilot robes that she had missed so much. Putting the hood on again was perhaps the most pleasant thing of all. Finally it felt as if she had moved back into an underground trog cavern, with little light and no wind to claw at her skin. A small sigh of contentment escaped her lips, though outside of the hood not a breath could be heard. She shuffled out of the room to find Cowlquape waiting for her patiently.

"Are you ready?" He asked, though considering she was now fully dressed again he was only really expecting her to agree. Still, it seemed like the right thing to ask. Maugin nodded, feeling her quiet self once again beneath the hood. Cowlquape nodded back and started walking, the trog following beside him. Undertown was a hive of activity as always – though it seemed somewhat empty compared the usual thronging streets were you could barely walk forwards. Looking up she noticed New Sanctaphrax however, and judging by the loud sounds and even louder yelling it was obvious a lot of the lower classes had taken up labour – helping rebuild Sanctaphrax to help feed their families back in Undertown. She found no reason to think more on the subject, so lowered her head again and followed Cowlquape through the streets – now seeming twice the size they had during her previous experiences with Undertown. They took turning after turning, and she began to wonder if the academic had in fact lost his way in the town – yet before she could question him, they came to a stop in front of the hanging baskets of New Sanctaphrax. Already they were running actively, a steady stream of workforce entering and leaving via the baskets almost symmetrically. One of the basket operators seemed to recognise the blond academic boy instantly though, giving him and Maugin priority access and winching them up to New Sanctaphrax without the briefest mention of pay. It made sense he wouldn't want to talk – after all, to carry people in the basket at this rate all day you'd need to conserve whatever energy you could.

"Twig's been speaking with the Professor of Darkness a lot lately," Cowlquape finally explained. It appeared his shyness and resurfaced the moment she put the hood back on – or if not shyness, he was at least losing his confidence around her again; "apparently he wants Twig to take over as Most High Academe. Twig's refusing of course, but he's been helping out with the rebuilding as well, while you were recovering." Maugin nodded to show she understood. To talk to him through the hood she would have to raise her voice quite a bit, and it didn't seem right – the boy was quite on edge as it was, without her raising her voice. He looked as if he'd break in two if anyone ever really shouted at him.

Cowlquape awkwardly ended their brief conversation and looked off across the sky until they reached New Sanctaphrax, the basket puller letting them off and dropping down with another worker at his side. It was not that Cowlquape was a special case she realised, but the hanging baskets were in fact operating free of charge to everyone at the moment – most likely to encourage people to help with the rebuilding of Sanctaphrax's many academies. All around them work was being carried out, some buildings already a few stories high, whilst other minor academies were barely more than piles of bricks that stood as placeholders for the places not yet started on. Amidst all the chaos of hammering, cementing and a hundred other activities, Cowlquape navigated perfectly through the streets with more sense of purpose than a pack of wig-wigs.

"How do you know your way around so well?" Maugin asked, trying to keep her voice low so only he could hear her through the hood.

Cowlquape glanced at her with a look of pleasant surprise on his face before smiling, obviously pleased she was now speaking to him again. "Well, I've been doing this trip for a few days now. You know, to see to your wounds and everything. I guess I just got used to the routes...it'll be nice when New Sanctaphrax is finished, but for the time being, I can at least work my way around properly without all those huge towers getting in my way." He laughed a little at himself, though it quickly turned awkward and he tried coughing to cover it up. It was not that Maugin had not found him entertaining – indeed, she even cracked a smile under her hood – yet there was no way he would be able to see that. It made things so awkward, always having her face covered so nobody could understand what she thought or how she felt without saying these things aloud. There was no way she could remove her hood though – especially in Sanctaphrax; the academics would want the rare opportunity to study a non-termagent trog, not to mention how unbearable and painful the wind would be against her face this high up with none of the high towers erected yet to protect her.

With the blond academic guiding her it was not long until they reached the loftus observatory, the once great tower now barely more than two stories high. Inside they could hear two voices, one young and barely interested as it half-heartedly agreed now and then, the other old and strained – it sounded as if the elder of the two had been talking some time and even exhausted his voice by this point. Cowlquape knocked twice on the door, waiting a moment before entering.

"Twig, I knew I'd find you here!" Cowlquape said as he entered, Maugin shuffling in behind the young man and shutting the door behind her. Even with just four of them the room already seemed awfully cramped.

"Cowlquape lad, glad you finally made it. I'm glad you're better too Maugin!" Twig said with a smile. She nodded in response, relieved that her thick stone pilot hood would hide her face – she was flushing even from such a simple compliment after having spent so long without him. Twig turned from the two of them to the Professor of Darkness once again.

"Anyway, I'm sorry, but I can't stay and help with Sanctaphrax anymore – not the building _or_ the running of it. I have a crew to find, and now my stone pilot is well and walking once more, I think it's time I left."

"But, but surely you jest, master Twig! Think of what you could gain if you took this position!" the Professor of Darkness blustered, reaching out his hands as he entreated him, "the whole of Sanctaphrax would bow to your every whim! You could find someone else to pick up your crew even!"

"That won't do," Twig said simply, shaking his head and looking the professor straight in the eyes. "I will not abandon my crew. I promised that _I _would be the one to return and look for them, and I intend to do just that. I'm sorry, professor, but my decision is final. At last, the elderly professor seemed lost for words, his entire form slouching as he surrendered.

"Fine, fine, do as you wish – but should you change your mind Twig, my boy, there will always be a place for you here." Twig nodded, not wanting to outright reject yet another of the professor's offers.

"Perhaps," he said, and left it at that. "Come on, we should get to the ship – the rest of the crew are waiting for us – I've had Sleet keep things in order, and I'm sure Tarp and Bogwitt will be pleased to finally get moving." Twig left the room, Cowlquape and Maugin following eagerly behind. This time as they passed through Sanctaphrax they received a few intrigued stares, all aimed at Twig – whilst she felt bad for him in a way, Maugin could not help but be relieved that they were at least not staring at her. Twig seemed to handle the attention well, and carried on regardless, leading the three of them into one of the hanging baskets Twig seemed to know Undertown's routes well, though not to the precision that Cowlquape did; now and then he would stop and take another look around, before deciding which path to take.

After a short walk, they arrived at the boomdocks. Here, at least, Twig knew precisely where he was going. He marched on down the boomdocks, turning suddenly half way down and leading them onto the Edgedancer. Sleet was busy below deck, checking everything was in order and cooking some stew for himself, his kitchen assistant Bogwitt, and Tarp Hammelherd who was on deck cleaning the floors for what seemed like the hundredth time in only a week. Hearing a creak as someone stepped onto the ship; Tarp leapt to his feet and brandished his mop like a weapon, preparing to strike out at any intruders. When he realised who it was however he quickly dropped his mop, running over excitedly.

"Captain, you're finally back! I swear I was dying of boredom waiting for our next adventure!" The dull life of a docked ship didn't seem to suit the slaughterer, so used to hunting in the Deepwoods. Hearing all the noise, Sleet dashed onto the deck with Bogwitt close behind, both bearing their weapons.

"Tarp, what in Sky's name is going on here?" He bellowed as the door was thrown open and he looked around quickly. It took a moment for him to calm down enough to realise it was Twig, his raised sword slowly dropping to his side. "Captain? My word, I was starting to worry you weren't coming back at all!" He laughed a little, sheathing his sword once more. Bogwitt looked like he had only just realised quite what was happening, sliding his own sword – still coated with juices from whatever he'd been slicing in the kitchen recently – into its own sheath at his waist.

"No need to worry, Quartermaster Sleet, your captain is back now. We will set sail immediately to recover the rest of our crew!" Twig already felt even more confident than his usual self just by finally returning to his sky ship. A cheer came up from Bogwitt and Tarp, the both of them obviously bored out of their minds from having to wait around on the ship.

"Of course, captain, but what about my tripweed stew? Should we not eat first?" Sleet didn't want to challenge the captain, but hated to waste supplies.

"Tripweed?" Twig shuddered at the mere mention of the stuff, quickly taking off to the hull. "Then we should _definitely _leave immediately! Stone Pilot, attend the flight rock!" He called back, shifting the flight-levers expertly in preparation to move. "Bogwitt, Tarp, go and weight anchor!" The two of them leapt to action at their Captain's orders. "Cowlquape – you have special orders!"

"Special orders, Captain?" Cowlquape said, his heart racing with excitement. Twig nodded seriously.

"Yes, this is _very_ important Cowlquape", the blond academic nodded, eagerly awaiting his orders; "make sure Sleet doesn't bring that Tripweed _anywhere_ near me!" Twig and Cowlquape both laughed and Sleet grumbled as the ship took to the sky. They were finally on their way – on a new adventure – to recover Twig's lost crew.


End file.
